High court blocks key parts of bill that had closed all but eight facilities in state

Marist RE's insight:

This article discusses the supreme court blocking key parts of a 2013 law that closed all but eight facilities providing abortions in Texas. An unsigned order appeals that Texas could immediately apply a rule making abortion clinics statewide spend millions on hospital-level upgrades. Some people are claiming that the law made to close some abortion clinics is having restrictions on thousands of woman have access to safe and legal abortions which could lead to the health and safety of the women undertaking the abortion at risk. However some Attorneys for the state have denied that Texas women would be burdened by fewer abortion facilities, saying nearly 9 in 10 would still live within 150 miles of a provider.

This would be an interesting article about abortion as it discusses the issue on whether or not a woman's health and safety is more important when she wants an abortion - regardless of the preservation of life of the foetus.

This article is about a group of gun supporters in America who were trying to make a stand against a moms group who are against guns, especially in suburban areas. There was a stand off between the two parties as the gunmen stayed in the car park outside the meeting point of the moms group for at least 15 minutes to threaten and intimidate the anti gun group. I dont think that guns should be legalised in places like America because of situations such as these, as they are clearly used for intimidation purposes and nothing more. An Act Utilitarian would say that this maximises the pleasure of the entire nation as the majority have guns but then when you look at the medical data of gun shot wounds in America it is ridiculously high. So is all this pain really worth the pleasure of owning a gun?

I saw my aunt choose to die and it took two months as her only option was refusing to eat.

Marist RE's insight:

This article talks about a seventy year old woman who had broken her pelvis and found that she was now unable to care for herself at home. She was put into a rest home; however, due to the unfamiliar setting, unknown people and her deteriorating health, she decided that she did not want to be alive anymore. The lady found that the easiest way of dying was to starve herself, since euthanasia is not legal in England. This was a very difficult time for her family, having to watch her slowly deteriorate for several weeks. This article would be very useful when discussing why euthanasia should be legal or the implications that the current law of euthanasia, in England has on people and their lives. Personally, I thought that it was a horrible way for such a vulnerable and elderly person to die. I believe that euthanasia would be a much efficient process as the lady dies quickly and painlessly. A natural law theorist would argue that euthanasia is wrong as it goes against the idea that life is sacred and should be preserved. A utilitarian could argue that in this case, euthanasia is the best choice to make as it is maximising happiness for the lady and her family, as they do not have to see her suffer in pain.

One thing after another: from abortion as a fundamental right, same sex marriage, euthanasia permitted for those who want it, and now euthanasia of children with or without their consent. The “anythin (Petition against euthanasia in Europe!

Marist RE's insight:

This article outlines the debate of the Belgian state to move their laws on Euthanasia to minors, without the consent of the parents. So the decision as to whether one's child lives or dies would be taken from the parents and given to the state. I found this to be a very shocking development which I was unaware of until having read this article. I believe no-one should have the right to choose who lives and dies and as the article states could 'condone a culture of death.' I thought this may be useful when we come to look at euthanasia and the extent to which it can be taken i.e. applying it "legally" to minors.

I am not entirely sure how reliable this source is; it does seem to provide a very strog arguement with little evidence of parliamentary tactics reagrding the discussion, however other websites, news items have mentioned the Belgian State extending euthanasia to children. The author does not appear to have any political affilitations, as if he did this would likley be made clear within the article. The source hence lacks reliability as the author does not appear to have any expertise on the topic and appears to be a member of the public, disscussing his own views on a policy in question which he may not entirely understand. Could also mention the bias of the source - it does not evealuate why the Belgian government have decided to put such topics up for debate i.e. the pros/cons.

This article is talking about the abortion laws in Texas. In the article the Supreme Court agrees to keep the existing abortion laws and this means agreeing to keep the abortion clinics closed within Texas. I think that this article would be useful when talking about the abortion laws as within the article there are points which are raised about the mothers health if she doesnt have the access to these abortion clinics legally. In the article it says that womens health will be hurt by these laws as the women arent just going to accept that they cant have abortions instead they will look elsewhere and in some cases they may even get illegal abortions where the mothers health is at risk due to the environment and the nature of the procedure. This article will be useful when we come to look at abortion and the laws around abortion.

This article is about the Gay rights and Gay parental rights in Florida. It talks about the parental rights within a same sex marriage. It says that within a Lesbian marriage the women who donated an egg to her now-estranged lesbian partner has parental rights to the child. I think this article would be a useful case study to look at when we study the rights to a child .

Mana

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Delete @Marist RE's comment, November 20, 5:00 PM Interesting! They key legal argument here is that egg and sperm donors have no legal rights to their genetic offspring: what about ethically? should they have rights (and also therefor responsibility) or not?

Interesting! They key legal argument here is that egg and sperm donors have no legal rights to their genetic offspring: what about ethically? should they have rights (and also therefor responsibility) or not?

loved the quote from the supreme court “The intangible fibers that connect parent and child have infinite variety. They are woven throughout the fabric of our society, providing it with strength, beauty, and flexibility. It is self-evident that they are sufficiently vital to merit constitutional protection in appropriate cases.” an unusual legal comment - sounds more like a moral argument. Which theories we have studied might make a judgement based on these grounds?

Al Jazeera America Texas abortion ban forces sick woman out of state Al Jazeera America By the time she made her decision to have an abortion, there were no clinics in Texas that could help her. On Oct.

Marist RE's insight:

24 year old, Florence lives in Texas and suffers from life threatening genetic disease. She is 22 weeks pregnant and found out baby will inherit disease. Her husband left her as he couldn't handle her disease anymore. She wanted an abortion but new law in Texas meant no abortion over 20 weeks. Closest place to have an abortion was Albuquerque, but when she got there she was to ill to be operated on. Now she has to depend on strangers to help her raise money to go to California for an abortion. This is away from her family and comfort. You could use this scenario in an essay about abortion, arguing that they should be allowed. You could use Florences case to show that the standard of living for the mother and baby would be so low that the most humane thing to do was to abort the baby. This article was extremely shocking to me as i couldn't believe that Florence was being refused an abortion and made to travel so far, when she was so ill and vulnreable, she was doing the best thing she could for her and the foetus.

Well done Rosie - a heart rending case that forces us to look at extreme cases to see what the conequences are (a useful tool in Ethics) Can you analyse which theories would agree with you? which theoriwes would look at 'standard of living' as a basis for ethial decisions? You could push your thinking a little further and analyse how does this compares with UK law.

Belgium is due to become the first country to allow euthanasia for terminally ill children of any age - without their parents permission. Belgium are ensuring that there are checks in place to prevent abuse and the child must be deemed mature enough to decide whether they want to die. However, people are concerned that nevertheless passing this law could become a 'slippery slope'. Moreover, one nurse says that she has rarely met a terminally ill child who wants to die. Requests usually come from the parents who request euthanasia for their child because they are exhausted after fighting for so long. This would be very interesting case study about euthanasia and whether everyone should have the right to die - regardless of their age.

This article discussed the increasingly available abortion pills that can be purchased on the internet. The pills can cause harm to the mother, not just the foetus and can be fatal. An investigator called Danny Lee-Frost said that 'these are not the sort of thing a 14-year-old girl should be using when she is six months pregnant and too frightened to tell mum and dad or see a doctor.' This accentuates how dangerous it is to take these pills and that an abortion is a medically involved case that requires 2 doctors to assess the circumstance. It could be used to show that girls need more information to tell them that they should see a doctor concerning an abortion, never resort to going online. The investigator of these abortion pills also states that "no one tries DIY heart surgery. Taking these pills is just life that" This quote could be used to back up an argument saying that abortions have become too relaxed and that they should only occur when there are valid reasons and proper medical supervision. From my opinion, this article was frightening to read as the thought of these girls buying the pills on the internet seemed inconceivable.

These abortions pills can cause YOU death, not just the little life inside you but your life too. Tell me how does that make you feel knowing that just because you want to kill the life inside you even you yourself can leave this earth. This black market on the internet is causing death in both ways if you dot know how to take the dosage of medication. Most of the people looking for an easy way out are teens! they don't want anyone to know so hey they think let me just take this pill and ill be fine. Do they not realize that all these things are going to be going against them too.

This article outlines the victory of Albuquerque pro-choice groups who prevented the ban of abortions beyond 20 weeks, with no exceptions for rape, incest or foetal abnormalities. The article cites the difficulties of a Chilean couple as an example of the recurpussions for such a law being enforced. The couple's foetus was diagnosed with hyoplastic left heart syndrome, which upon birth would result in a number of open heart surgery which would likely lead to Complications including brain damage, if the child survived.The couple chose to have an abortion. The article states that without such choice, (they had to go to US) the ban would have'long lived prevented terrible suffering' I personally do not agree with abortion, however as the article infers I do not believe that abortion should be banned as this would result in an issue of botched abortions. A natural law theist would state that abortion is always wrong, following the primary precept of the 'preservation of life.' A utilitarian would say that if abortion brought greater happiness as it would in the case of the couple who did not have to go through the suffering of watching their child die and so would be morally right.

howdoesthelightgetin festival: chilling out in a yurt, debating with the worlds leading philosophers, writers and thinkers, then partying into the night. This was a debate on relativism - food for thought on our first topic.

Telegraph.co.uk Last British resident held in Guantánamo Bay: leave us to die in peace Telegraph.co.uk The last British resident held in Guantánamo Bay has pleaded with the US to either open up the prison camp to the world or else "leave us to die...

Mr Aamer is a Bitish resident that is being held prisoner at a US military base and has been there since 2002. For the first time in years he is said to have begged the military to stop treating him as a slave and more like a human being. As you read on through the article it is clear that the prisoners there are being treated as lesser human beings as they walk around in chains, but this isn't even the worst of the story. Mr Aamer has been there 12 years and has not been charged with a single crime and the Obama administration even cleared him for release. I think this article is a good example of how some people have lost their human rights and should deserve justice, it is evident from this article that he shouldnt be there and should instead be with his children, but why is it in this day and age when we are supposedly living in a just society can we not give justice when it is necessary.

Kelly Jones

The way this is reported makes it sound utterly brutal and injust, how biased do you think this report is?

On what grounds can his detention be justified?

The question is can Guantanamo Bay be justified if you think through the eyes of a utilitarianism. By locking these people away it reduces the chances of a terrorist attack happening which could kill thousands of innocent lives (eg. 9.11). This therefore means that the majority are benefiting. By capturing people who could potentially commit such a terrible crime will reduce the changes of something like 9.11 happening again which caused major distress across the globe, surely preventing this justifies locking a few people away on an island.

(this isnt my view on it, just finding a way to justify what they are doing)

Adoption is the Answer to Child Abuse, Not Abortion LifeNews.com It is the argument that justifies abortion because of problems within the family, such as child abuse and neglect.

Marist RE's insight:

I thought this was a really interesting article that looks at the American Pro-Life campaign but brings up the point that even thought Pro-Life is good it means that child who are unwanted are more liking to under go abuse. It looks at the idea of abortion being the anidote to abuse of childern. The article explains that through the Pro-Life campaign we can see that abortion is not the answer but adoption is. I have never heard of abortion being the 'solution' to child abuse and thought it was quite interesting. Might be useful for when we look at abortion.

1.summerise what is said in the article (yes - you have to read it first!)

2. Try to add comment/insight - where might you include this in an essay - e.g. it supports a utillitarian/Natural Law/Kantian view in that it... or Is it a good example of where Fathers rights should be removed if you took the view of .... You may find you come back and add to it as we cover the topic in class.

3. don't forget to add your name at the bottom!

4. You should aim to pick up at least one article each week to flesh out the applied ethics section (euthanasia, abortion, right to a child, Genetic engineering and G.M. crops, war and peace.

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